Faced with a budget crisis and layoffs of 167 police officers, it’s understandable if Newark officials have decided not to spend money on decorations. Dire times have forced many New Jersey cities and towns to cut back. It’s budget bah-humbug.

“There are certain things towns have to pay for — public works and police,” said Matthew Weng of the New Jersey League of Municipalities. “Anything not absolutely necessary gets dumped by the wayside.”

Nonetheless, with Newark City Hall’s usual 30-foot tree and 20,000 solar-powered lights absent, and ornaments missing from street lights, the city is pretty bleak.

Newark could take a lesson from Worcester, Mass. Students in the welding and sheet-metal classes at Worcester Technical High School crafted 100 large, silvery W’s, surrounded by snowflakes, that now adorn downtown utility poles.

So, in the air there’s a feeling of Christmas cooperation: Government, businesses and schools joined forces to provide (frugal) holiday cheer.

Next year, with similar creativity and teamwork, residents and workers might be able to look at downtown Newark and say: “It’s Christmastime in the city.”